hooking up a generator

Help me out here,if i wire up my generator to my battery bank,can i hard wire it in so whenever i use it for something else it well feed to the batterys?any suggestions i looked and didnt find any mention of how people have their generators hooked up.i would be running this from a voltage regulated source at 14.0 volts

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maybe i'm not understanding you, but it is the same as if the charger were plugged into a utility outlet and wired to the batteries. it may do you well to have a fuse and an on/off switch of proper dc ratings between the charger and battery.

There are AC gensets (alternators) that output 120/240/etc... 60 Hz AC... And there are true DC Gensets that output 24 VDC (typically military) or other voltages.

If you have an AC generator, you can get a good quality 120 VAC (or whatever) battery charger to charge your batteries... And you have the option of running our off-grid loads from the AC Generator directly, or by turning on your off-grid inverter and powering the loads (while the generator both charges the batteries and supplies current to run the inverter)...

And--there are Inverters that have internal battery chargers... You connect the DC input of the inverter to a battery. And your load to the inverter's output.

You then connect the AC Generator to the Inverter's GEN or AC input.

Now, when the generator is off-the battery+inverter supply power.

When the AC Genset is running, the transfer switch inside the inverter connects the load directly to the genset, and also charges the battery bank at the same time.

Some Inverter/Chargers are smart enough to share the generator output between the AC load and battery charging... (limits the total AC input to prevent popping the AC Generator's overload breaker).

The inverter/charger can be very nice this way... You can use a smaller (fuel efficient) Genset to both run your AC loads and charge your battery bank because the inverter/charger limits the charging current if there is a heavy AC load at the time "maxing" the Genset's capacity.

None of them say that. Searching for the word "cannot" gave 3 hits in each document. Searching for the words, "can not" gave no hits.

Is your generator a different model? I went through the EU2000I manuals, but don't really have any desire to search the manuals for every Honda model.

As to the windings, the schematic shows "main winding", "sub winding", "dc winding" and "exciter winding". The schematic shows the output from the "dc winding" going to a "rectifier" and then to the "dc outlet receptacle".

Are those not separate windings? Or am I reading the schematic wrong? (I'm an electrician, not an electronicist.)

I must live in an alternate reality. Does Canada count as that?
The on-line manual is significantly different from the printed version I have. Admittedly, I've had this beast a very, very long time but .... Could they have changed that much over the years?

They do appear to have separate windings now, but the principal is the same: the engine can only put out so much HP, and if it's going to DC it won't be available for AC and vice-versa. My guess is that the electronics wouldn't know, so the motor would be taxed and the output available to each reduced as if there weren't enough HP. Sort of like running an inverter off low batteries; current goes up, output potential goes down.

They do appear to have separate windings now, but the principal is the same: the engine can only put out so much HP, and if it's going to DC it won't be available for AC and vice-versa. My guess is that the electronics wouldn't know, so the motor would be taxed and the output available to each reduced as if there weren't enough HP. Sort of like running an inverter off low batteries; current goes up, output potential goes down.

Makes sense.

Also the manual says to turn off Eco Mode when using the DC to charge a battery, so even if it's possible to use the AC at the same time, you would probably be running the gen flat out to do it.

I never claimed that it was a good idea to do it - just that you can.

(As for being off-topic...well Bill answered the OP pretty well in his post, so this is all just gravy anyway.)

I guess i should have been more clear.im thinking of powering up a 63 amp car alternator,hooked up to a battery and an inverter to run a washing machine,i figure i well have power to spare and thought i would hook up to my battery bank and use some of the excess power to help top off the battery bank.

You mean run an alternator off a gas engine to provide 12 VDC charging for batteries?
That would work. Maybe not the most fuel-efficient design possible, as it has to turn the DC in AC for all loads whereas a generator would produce AC 'directly', as it were. But if it's what you've got already to work with, it's cheaper than a generator, right?

One note; washing machine = big load. They generally have 1/3 HP AC induction motors to run the agitator, and that will use up to 1000 Watts running (plus more on start-up). Good idea to check the machine first with a Kill-A-Watt to get real-world figures on what it will use.

A 63 Amp alternator is theoretically capable of about 746 Watts - one electrical HP. Its actual capacity will be less, due to efficiency losses (and you don't want to run it at peak output all the time - it would shorten the life). But it will require more than 1 HP to run it.

While the washer is running it will probably draw more than the alternator is capable of supplying, so be sure you have enough battery bank to make up the difference.

is using the DC battery charger on the generator more efficient than plugging in an off the shelf AC battery charger?

Compare the output current rating of the gen's DC to that of the battery charger that can be run from the gen's AC. Chances are there's a big difference. The Honda 1000's DC output is 6.5 A, but its AC can run a 30 A charger. The type of charger makes a difference too: the gen's output is for "automotive type" batteries only; it won't supply the 3-stage charging desired by a deep cycle type. But the AC can run such a charger.

I guess i should have been more clear.im thinking of powering up a 63 amp car alternator,hooked up to a battery and an inverter to run a washing machine,i figure i well have power to spare and thought i would hook up to my battery bank and use some of the excess power to help top off the battery bank.

Yes, you can do that - if you have excess power. That alternator will put out a max of somewhere around 800w.

The issues are:

A) auto alternators usually put out less voltage at lower RPM (and frequently they put out nothing at all at engine idle speeds), so you'll need to rig it to run the alternator at the right RPM, and

auto voltage regulators usually put out less voltage than a deep cycle battery setup will likely need.

So, you can divert the excess into the batteries, but only up to a point. If your batteries need 15 volts to get them up to full, and your alternator rig only puts out 14, then you'll never quite get the batteries full.

You mean run an alternator off a gas engine to provide 12 VDC charging for batteries?
That would work. Maybe not the most fuel-efficient design possible, as it has to turn the DC in AC for all loads whereas a generator would produce AC 'directly', as it were. But if it's what you've got already to work with, it's cheaper than a generator, right?

One note; washing machine = big load. They generally have 1/3 HP AC induction motors to run the agitator, and that will use up to 1000 Watts running (plus more on start-up). Good idea to check the machine first with a Kill-A-Watt to get real-world figures on what it will use.

A 63 Amp alternator is theoretically capable of about 746 Watts - one electrical HP. Its actual capacity will be less, due to efficiency losses (and you don't want to run it at peak output all the time - it would shorten the life). But it will require more than 1 HP to run it.

While the washer is running it will probably draw more than the alternator is capable of supplying, so be sure you have enough battery bank to make up the difference.

Well i am new here, just found this place a few minutes ago. If you are charging batteries, I do not see why this will not work. I used the same system 26 years ago to power my house until we got the panels. I strapped 3 Ford alternators to a small cable laying machine powered by an 18 HP motor, I had a potential of 170 amps, but regulated the input to get 50% output. I loved it, $13 a month for fuel, but keeping the machine working could be a pain. I could see this as a supplemental system today. The one ?? I would have would be how does today's alternators work. Way back then GM had a built in regulator, Ford did not, and they were cheap of the shelf. If anyone is interested, I can speak to the viability of using a system like this. Send a PM